pinotlover

Amex and Discover are accepted in the major cities and tourist areas, primarily in the major chains. Get out and away from that and you’ll find very few establishments that will accept either because of their outrageous exorbitant fees. All those cash back and perks they offer come at a price. Even here locally few small private venues accept either. In Europe m, it’s even less.

Smoking is still quite common in many of the countries from which crew is recruited. Totally ban smoking and you may be making your own bed and cleaning your bathroom! Also take a look at the number of senior officers in the smoking lounge.

I would advise to book now. Riveria in August sounds like one of the 7-10 day milk run Alaskan cruises. On those short cruises, if the ship is near capacity, better times may not be available once aboard. If they’re part of the 6:30, two top only crowd, options may be very limited. The length of the cruise along with how full the ship greatly affects availability.

Does a less than 2 hour dinner, that’s all sitting and minimum walking to and from the venue, require special shoes? 🤔🙄

As far as the Dom P dinner. It is tightly controlled by Dom P. They singularly control the menu and the wines. We had our first Dom P La Reserve dinner in 2019 which was pre Covid. Oceania is still serving the same, and typically vintage, champagnes six years later. My first reaction is whether O is still sitting on some original inventory, or if they’re still getting those older vintages from Dom P. Securing those older vintages has certainly gotten more expensive. Additionally, as related to me by staff, one of Dom’s requirements for the dinner is that Oceania have aboard ship an actual certified Sommelier. This is something they don’t regularly do. Their normal wine stewards are rarely actual Sommeliers because of the cost of employment. Someone has to pay the extra for an actual Sommelier. As an aside a senior culinary staff member told me the 800 lb gorilla did La Reserve in, not lack of demand. The cost of not managing the beast.

NCL/Oceania has its European HDQ in Southampton, fwiw. Perhaps some British influence did affect the newly clarified dress codes.

Maybe, maybe not. Generally if you ask, but they may be out. We always bring our own just in case. They take up basically zero space in the suitcase.

Anyone can book when they want. No differentiation by cabin class. You’ll even find many that book tours without any real plans of going on the cruise. Just part of the “ Event “, before they cancel the cruise. If a tour ever shows being closed or sold out; come back after final payment and you’ll typically find plenty of space.

That’s why the ship, and other establishments, have dress codes. Some people don’t care, period.

A lot of American tourists seem to delight in being easily identified as an American tourist. How many Europeans do you see wearing a “baseball “ hat inside a restaurant? Either (a) they’re afraid the roof might leak, even on a sunny day; or (b) they just delight in proving they’re American. When in Rome, do as the Romans is a concept they never grasped.

😂 +1

That port has been closed to cruise ships since Covid in 2020. It has been a fake entry since then. Oceania has merely done the honorable thing and finally removed the port from the itinerary. Kudos to them. Much more professional than the email the day before boarding telling you it been cancelled and will be a sea day.

Why would anyone book, and pay for a cruise, at a price they weren’t satisfied with? 😳🤔 I have jumped on good sales and rebooked for savings. Catch is, I have an active lifestyle. I really haven’t the time to look at the May sale, then the June sale, and the July sale to see if I can save money. I’m quite sure we’ll see an August sale, shortly followed by a Labor Day Sale. Then we’ll have an October Sale which will be brief while they roll out the Sale for the itineraries on the new Class Ship. Then back to Thanksgiving and Christmas Sales on unsold segments until February when new 2027 itineraries are released. Perhaps someday when we move in an assisted living facility, quit playing golf, quit mowing the lawn and doing lawn work, and hosting house parties we’ll have time to analyze each monthly sale for savings. Until then, our highly professional Travel Agent normally alerts us when good savings are possible by rebooking. I’ll leave the monthly sale analysis paralysis for those enjoying the activity.

The listed boarding time is based upon expected ship arrival time in port,, expected disembarkation times at port, and turnaround of cabins. I’ve had these later posted boarding times when the ships have long runs to port and aren’t expected in until 09:00. At the 21 day mark, when you apply for your boarding pass, you’ll have an accurate assessment of the actual boarding times. Until then I wouldn’t plan on getting to port before the 13:00 mark unless you enjoy lines. What is the listed disembark time on the prior cruise?

For those that choose to share a table, one would occasionally find themselves seated with one of the senior executives. They were often very forthcoming in answering any questions people might have. In fact, at one of these encounters is when FDR spoke plainly about the future of the R ships which we are seeing coming to pass. While these dinners would be of no interest to those only wanting two tops, they were both informative and entertaining for those that shared.

When outside of the U.S. buy Voltaren , or one of its generics like Volfenac GEL. Be sure to ask for the 2.32% concentrations, not the cheap 1+% sold in the States. It’s wonderful, works great, and easier to carry around than an ice pack. I put some on in the morning before going on excursions and then before bed. It’s only sold in pharmacies, but doesn’t require a prescription. I then buy plenty, so to have a good stash to take home with me.

I’ll wait and see on this one. The Basic Drinks package was always an option with OLife. People that enjoyed beer and wine at lunch and dinner often chose that option, not the tour option. So we’re only talking about those that choose the latter. Additionally, the basic beverage package is still offered as a perk with most of the ongoing sales. If it was a financial burden they wouldn’t be doing so. Most passengers have no reason to know, and are thus clueless on what Oceania pays for its BTG wine. As to the buffet, I never understood people filling their plates brimming over; then get back to their seats and decide they didn’t like their choice. Even with others serving, I only take small portions, then go back for more if I so choose. I don’t believe I ever complained about serving being too small! My eyes were often bigger than my stomach anyway. Then there was the Lady on our Vista cruise that dumped the entire serving dish of blueberries on her plate, leaving everyone else with none. Blueberries weren’t served for breakfast the rest of the cruise! 🙄

This has ebbed and flowed over the years. Oceania management will allow it for awhile, then completely shut it down and make people go through either their butler or the reservation desk. One shouldn’t be surprised when it works and likewise shouldn’t be upset when they don’t allow it. You know it’s soon going to end when people start lining up at the restaurants instead of the Reservation Desk.

A yet unmentioned factor in the selection process is b2b cruises. I have an upcoming b2b, in a PH, that is over 18 days long thus giving us two reservations in each Specialty. The second leg of that b2b is a transatlantic. The first leg has one sea day. Between our b2b, and those on even longer cruises, the ship is mostly full leaving a smallish percentage of passengers solely on the TA. Everyone on my b2b will have first dibs on those Specialty reservations before any of the single segmenters have a chance. If one is a single segmentor, or just boards at that port, and in a B cabin or below, you will be fishing for the last available times. Therefore, those single segmenters are not competing against all the others in lower cabins, just against those boarding with you. There may be only 100 or less of you competing for those final leftover spots. I will also add that this is exactly the type of cruise where all of the onward (b2b) guests will have most likely scooped up nearly all the additional Specialty slots, on your Embankment Day, well before the new Group boards. Additional Specialty reservations will be few and far between for those Embarking. Such as at 8:30 or 9:00!

That level of politeness and respect doesn’t universally exist on Oceania. Different cruise lines. Thus we rotate going through the buffet line, never leaving the table unoccupied. I will add that the same technique applies with Barrista on the O & A ships.

All this plus, as ORV pointed out, are you willing to share a table, or only take a two top!!! On a full ship, even PH can’t always get two tops on certain nights in any every venue, at 6:30.

ORV; There you go again, expecting some type of details that may affect the situation. 😂 you should know better by now! 🥂

Bottom line: It’s all remains in the hands of the venue Maitre de/ hostess to determine what’s appropriate and what’s not. Not withstanding these guidelines, we have zero knowledge of what the ship’s GM is actually telling them. They only do what they’re told. My guess is they weren’t, on some ships, enforcing the old standards because senior staff was telling them not do. So what has changed? Just another dress code thread. 🙄

Simply On a cruise to which we’ve not been invited. Lots of those occur.

I did both lunches on the Vista. The food for both are close, but the quality of the more expensive lunch far outpaces the other. It’s more a differentiation of wine quality.